It is configurable for all sorts of LCD layouts, including BGR and RGB. Unfortunately, it runs only on Windows, so this probably won't help you if you have an iMac... but perhaps you could do screen captures then view the graphics on the Mac?
Of course, this was all done over 20 years ago, with the Apple ][: it displayed color, but internally everything was black and white! Due to the way the NTSC television signal works, it could create color by placing thin white vertical lines very close together in precise positions. It did this, essentially creating more subpixel resolution. The application was different, using black and white pixels to create color (essentially opposite to what is done now, using color pixels to create more black and white resolution), but the underlying technology solution was the same.
I just hope Microsoft doesn't try to patent this! Hopefully, the Patent Office will see the mountain of prior art that is the Apple ][.
That "two part game", with another playfield extending vertically in the back, is called Banzai Run. Unfortunately, you can't see the title or most of the artwork, as this game was missing many parts. It's still a fun game, though, hopefully a better example will turn up at another games show!
Something neat: the designer of Banzai Run was Pat Lawlor, and this game was his first. He went on to make Earthshaker, Funhouse, Twilight Zone, and Addams Family (the #1 pinball game of all time). So, Banzai Run is somewhat of a collectible, because of this, and the unique vertical playfield! Good luck finding it...
Another game I liked at PAGG was Force II. A very obscure old game by Gottlieb, in the section with many of their other early electronic games (System 80's). Very simple game, just banks of drop targets and bumpers, but everything was angled to deflect into each other! You could play the game and bounce the ball all over the place, hitting everything perfectly, targets coming up at just the right times to get knocked down again. Lots of fun, and a game you can really get into "the zone" on...
Re:Dying? Its already died in the UK...
on
Is Pinball Dying?
·
· Score: 1
There's one place in the UK that might still have a few decent games: in London, there's an arcade just outside the Goodge Street station, next to the KFC. The arcade's basement had several good games when I was there two years ago...
I was suprised to see pinball still viable in France. Almost every other street cafe had one pinball machine in an inside corner! The difference here is that the machines are individual and widely seperated; they aren't consolidated into groups of machines in arcades, as they are elsewhere.
But they were doing well in France, and I was able to play them even though I don't know French by listening to the sound effects (which were still in English!). Stern is chasing this foreign market in order to survive: their newest game, Striker Xtreme, has a theme of football (USA soccer) and has speech in many European languages, in addition to English. If pinball is to survive, it's going to depend on France and other countries where it is still popular.
Back in the USA, a new phenomenon is emerging: there's more machines now in people's private homes than there are in arcades! As games get taken out of service, people buy them, and repair them to mint condition, where they're still working today. Unfortunately, you can't easily get access to these machines and play them...
Something that would prevent download sites from being slashdotted: give the mirrors a head start, before opening the files to the public. I thought this was already done; I'd be surprised if it wasn't!
If the major mirroring sites are given special accounts, they can get in and download the files early. Once this is done, the new files can be made available all at once, on all sites. That way, the central site wouldn't get hosed before the mirrors have a chance to back it up...
Not exactly true about land rights: many of my relatives own houses and have wells on their property, giving them water rights. (and sewer rights, via leachlines)
They can't use unlimited quantities of water, though: if enough water is drained, the well goes dry, and you must wait for it to refill. There are also limits beyond that, to avoid draining your neighbor's well. The system works fine, and has for many years.
When I visited Italy, where tollbooths are used on almost every highway, they cause massive congestion and slow things down for everybody. Traffic is worsened, not improved, by tollbooths: people still need to drive, to get wherever they're going, and this is just another roadblock on their way.
The backroads are also jammed, for the reason you mentioned, causing safety hazards for nearby residents.
To fund the roads, I'd be willing to increase the gas tax... but only as long as I could guarantee that ALL of the money raised in this way would go to road maintenance, and not be siphoned off as it is now!
Actually, RealAudio/Video/etc. has support for IP Multicast. It's been in there since at least version 5 or so.
Multicast isn't really available on the public Internet yet, so that's the reason why RealAudio has to duplicate all streams that are being uploaded to listeners. Real's site mentions multicast being feasible "on an internal company intranet" or something like that.
About pings going through satellites: my friend had this happen with his CABLE MODEM (in Los Angeles, CA, US).
His cable company decided to get on the cheap, and route the cable modem traffic through a satellite provider! (I don't know why they would seriously consider this...) Doing a traceroute, you could see just how fast the network was, with the exception of the 700ms lag added by the satellite! Lag time was very good, less than 50ms on each side of the satellite, but having the satellite there just killed things.
He wisely canceled the service with the cable company, and now has a down-to-earth DSL modem which has blazing good speeds, and no satellites...:-)
It would be a great idea to support NetBEUI. That protocol may be dying, but it has two advantages for small networks that aren't present in TCP/IP:
It requires no central administration (machines dynamically discover each other and don't need addressing, workgroups, subnets, etc.).
It is non-routeable (and thus can be used securely on a local LAN, without the possibility of packets leaking in/out to the Internet)
Question though: Assuming the Linux NetBEUI patch is integrated into the kernel, would it be best to have the Linux kernel handle the NetBEUI setup (node discovery, defending conflicting names, etc.), or do it internally within Samba?
As NetBEUI is a low-level protocol like TCP/IP, there's an argument for doing it in the kernel (thus letting other programs use NetBEUI as well). But, much of the existing code is already in Samba, and there's also an argument for doing it in Samba (it would be fairly straightforward, just remove the TCP/IP wrapper the SMB packets get encapsulated in, and put them directly on the wire via NetBEUI).
(Just FYI for newcomers to this protocol: there's a difference between NetBIOS and NetBEUI. NetBEUI is a network protocol, like TCP/IP. NetBIOS is a programming interface, like sockets, that was designed and optimized for NetBEUI (much the same as the socket API was designed for TCP/IP).
A while ago, SGI's 3D abilities on their workstations were far superior than anything available for any other platform, and worth the price.
I believe that they failed to keep ahead of the advancing PC industry. Games like Quake provided the critical mass to make 3D accelerator cards a commodity, thus lowering the price of them, while SGI's prices remained high.
SGI did little to keep their 3D abilities state-of-the-art, so their high prices no longer seemed worthwhile and people began buying generic PC's to do their renderings instead of SGI.
(This is all IMHO... If anyone cares to fill me in with more information on the downfall of SGI, please do so.)
I was introduced to Nutella by a German friend. Tried it and it's good.
It's mostly available in the States at Trader Joe's (a specialty gourmet grocery store, mostly on the West Coast), although I've also seen it at some of the larger Safeway stores.
A program for Windows that does this already exists!
It's a shareware program, Total Recorder, and it is essentially a "null" sound driver, that saves sound data to memory instead of playing it. It's accompanied by a user-mode program that saves that data to disk and redirects the data to the actual sound driver (so you can still hear sound while recording).
http://www.totalrecorder.com/
(I've tried it, but the shareware limitation is quite severe, so I didn't keep it: only a few seconds of recording time is allowed)
I live in San Jose, within about a half mile of a telco CO, and get the full 1.5M/128K speed. But, when a housemate turns on a dimmer light, it goes completely down the toilet! The ADSL box craps out completely, losing sync and dropping TCP connections.
Have you read the book Technopoly, by Neil Postman? A bit overzealous but very appropriate to what you are thinking here. The book describes the social changes brought on by the rise of technology, and the positive and negative things that have arisen from that. The author makes some very provocative points.
Slashdot Mirror
You can download a demo of the technology used behind ClearType, at Steve Gibson's page:
http://grc.com/cleartype.htm
It is configurable for all sorts of LCD layouts, including BGR and RGB. Unfortunately, it runs only on Windows, so this probably won't help you if you have an iMac... but perhaps you could do screen captures then view the graphics on the Mac?
Of course, this was all done over 20 years ago, with the Apple ][: it displayed color, but internally everything was black and white! Due to the way the NTSC television signal works, it could create color by placing thin white vertical lines very close together in precise positions. It did this, essentially creating more subpixel resolution. The application was different, using black and white pixels to create color (essentially opposite to what is done now, using color pixels to create more black and white resolution), but the underlying technology solution was the same.
I just hope Microsoft doesn't try to patent this! Hopefully, the Patent Office will see the mountain of prior art that is the Apple ][.
That "two part game", with another playfield extending vertically in the back, is called Banzai Run. Unfortunately, you can't see the title or most of the artwork, as this game was missing many parts. It's still a fun game, though, hopefully a better example will turn up at another games show!
Something neat: the designer of Banzai Run was Pat Lawlor, and this game was his first. He went on to make Earthshaker, Funhouse, Twilight Zone, and Addams Family (the #1 pinball game of all time). So, Banzai Run is somewhat of a collectible, because of this, and the unique vertical playfield! Good luck finding it...
Another game I liked at PAGG was Force II. A very obscure old game by Gottlieb, in the section with many of their other early electronic games (System 80's). Very simple game, just banks of drop targets and bumpers, but everything was angled to deflect into each other! You could play the game and bounce the ball all over the place, hitting everything perfectly, targets coming up at just the right times to get knocked down again. Lots of fun, and a game you can really get into "the zone" on...
There's one place in the UK that might still have a few decent games: in London, there's an arcade just outside the Goodge Street station, next to the KFC. The arcade's basement had several good games when I was there two years ago...
I was suprised to see pinball still viable in France. Almost every other street cafe had one pinball machine in an inside corner! The difference here is that the machines are individual and widely seperated; they aren't consolidated into groups of machines in arcades, as they are elsewhere.
But they were doing well in France, and I was able to play them even though I don't know French by listening to the sound effects (which were still in English!). Stern is chasing this foreign market in order to survive: their newest game, Striker Xtreme, has a theme of football (USA soccer) and has speech in many European languages, in addition to English. If pinball is to survive, it's going to depend on France and other countries where it is still popular.
Back in the USA, a new phenomenon is emerging: there's more machines now in people's private homes than there are in arcades! As games get taken out of service, people buy them, and repair them to mint condition, where they're still working today. Unfortunately, you can't easily get access to these machines and play them...
Something that would prevent download sites from being slashdotted: give the mirrors a head start, before opening the files to the public. I thought this was already done; I'd be surprised if it wasn't!
If the major mirroring sites are given special accounts, they can get in and download the files early. Once this is done, the new files can be made available all at once, on all sites. That way, the central site wouldn't get hosed before the mirrors have a chance to back it up...
Not exactly true about land rights: many of my relatives own houses and have wells on their property, giving them water rights. (and sewer rights, via leachlines)
They can't use unlimited quantities of water, though: if enough water is drained, the well goes dry, and you must wait for it to refill. There are also limits beyond that, to avoid draining your neighbor's well. The system works fine, and has for many years.
You're absolutely right about tollbooths.
When I visited Italy, where tollbooths are used on almost every highway, they cause massive congestion and slow things down for everybody. Traffic is worsened, not improved, by tollbooths: people still need to drive, to get wherever they're going, and this is just another roadblock on their way.
The backroads are also jammed, for the reason you mentioned, causing safety hazards for nearby residents.
To fund the roads, I'd be willing to increase the gas tax... but only as long as I could guarantee that ALL of the money raised in this way would go to road maintenance, and not be siphoned off as it is now!
Actually, RealAudio/Video/etc. has support for IP Multicast. It's been in there since at least version 5 or so.
Multicast isn't really available on the public Internet yet, so that's the reason why RealAudio has to duplicate all streams that are being uploaded to listeners. Real's site mentions multicast being feasible "on an internal company intranet" or something like that.
I haven't tried it myself, though...
About pings going through satellites: my friend had this happen with his CABLE MODEM (in Los Angeles, CA, US).
His cable company decided to get on the cheap, and route the cable modem traffic through a satellite provider! (I don't know why they would seriously consider this...) Doing a traceroute, you could see just how fast the network was, with the exception of the 700ms lag added by the satellite! Lag time was very good, less than 50ms on each side of the satellite, but having the satellite there just killed things.
He wisely canceled the service with the cable company, and now has a down-to-earth DSL modem which has blazing good speeds, and no satellites... :-)
Josh
I would love to see NetBEUI support in Samba! Especially with the Procom NetBEUI stack for Linux, announced recently.
It would be a great idea to support NetBEUI. That protocol may be dying, but it has two advantages for small networks that aren't present in TCP/IP:
Question though: Assuming the Linux NetBEUI patch is integrated into the kernel, would it be best to have the Linux kernel handle the NetBEUI setup (node discovery, defending conflicting names, etc.), or do it internally within Samba?
As NetBEUI is a low-level protocol like TCP/IP, there's an argument for doing it in the kernel (thus letting other programs use NetBEUI as well). But, much of the existing code is already in Samba, and there's also an argument for doing it in Samba (it would be fairly straightforward, just remove the TCP/IP wrapper the SMB packets get encapsulated in, and put them directly on the wire via NetBEUI).
(Just FYI for newcomers to this protocol: there's a difference between NetBIOS and NetBEUI. NetBEUI is a network protocol, like TCP/IP. NetBIOS is a programming interface, like sockets, that was designed and optimized for NetBEUI (much the same as the socket API was designed for TCP/IP).
I don't think it was Linux that destroyed SGI.
A while ago, SGI's 3D abilities on their workstations were far superior than anything available for any other platform, and worth the price.
I believe that they failed to keep ahead of the advancing PC industry. Games like Quake provided the critical mass to make 3D accelerator cards a commodity, thus lowering the price of them, while SGI's prices remained high.
SGI did little to keep their 3D abilities state-of-the-art, so their high prices no longer seemed worthwhile and people began buying generic PC's to do their renderings instead of SGI.
(This is all IMHO... If anyone cares to fill me in with more information on the downfall of SGI, please do so.)
It's mostly available in the States at Trader Joe's (a specialty gourmet grocery store, mostly on the West Coast), although I've also seen it at some of the larger Safeway stores.
A program for Windows that does this already exists!
It's a shareware program, Total Recorder, and it is essentially a "null" sound driver, that saves sound data to memory instead of playing it. It's accompanied by a user-mode program that saves that data to disk and redirects the data to the actual sound driver (so you can still hear sound while recording).
http://www.totalrecorder.com/
(I've tried it, but the shareware limitation is quite severe, so I didn't keep it: only a few seconds of recording time is allowed)
You're not kidding.
I live in San Jose, within about a half mile of a telco CO, and get the full 1.5M/128K speed. But, when a housemate turns on a dimmer light, it goes completely down the toilet! The ADSL box craps out completely, losing sync and dropping TCP connections.
If you get DSL, don't throw out your modem...
Have you read the book Technopoly, by Neil Postman? A bit overzealous but very appropriate to what you are thinking here. The book describes the social changes brought on by the rise of technology, and the positive and negative things that have arisen from that. The author makes some very provocative points.
I confirmed this today with an employee of FlashPoint (makers of Digita, the operating system in this camera)...
It's TRUE.
Haven't seen it in person yet, but hope to soon...
A videogame emulator on Digita. Great idea. But what would be truly great to have is a PINBALL machine emulator. So I could play Twilight Zone on it.
"This is a most... unusual... camera."
:-)
(There's already a motion sensor in the Kodak DC260 that detects when you tilt the camera...)